Do You Have a Flag: Hey, where'd you get that box?

[Morgan Evanar]

The borrowed YT-1760 was part of the Alliance's pool of small freighters with highly interchangeable registration codes, often used for covert missions where discretion was advisable. It now sat in the rougher section of the landing field on Ossus, where starships that didn't need immediate attention or offloads were directed to. Construction was always several steps behind the ideal, but this didn't bother Morgan in the slightest. He liked the slightly overgrown grasses attempting to jut out from underneath the ramp, and the fact that the ground was a bit uneven.

What Morgan didn't like is that someone planted lightsabers for a speeder gang, who promptly used the weapons to steal over a million credits of precious minerals. Padawan Naaianeya had helped him apprehend the swoop gang thieves, but a degree of damage had been done. The Jedi Knight looked at the suitcase in his hand and frowned. The lightsabers had already caused a great deal of trouble, but they might bring him to the perpetrators of the plot.

Draiya had been prepared to plow headlong into the cold crime scene, but Morgan wanted more information before he looked at the drop point. He hadn't even looked at any of the sabers himself in case he might accidentally be removing a clue. He decided to consult the experts, and walked straight as possible toward the Council building.

[Draiya Naaianeya]

Draiya had been nothing but a pair of restless legs on the short series of jumps back to Ossus. While Knight Evanar's suggestion for a little research on the matter at hand was probably the right course of action, the Syragori padawan still felt as if picking the bones of the linked crime scene could shed light to point them in a fresher direction. She'd backed Morgan's play, though. As they headed to the Council building, Draiya tried to hide her nervous hands by clasping them together.

"I don't get it. Someone just gives a cache of lightsaberrs to some gangerrs and the gangerrs pocket a haul frrom a rrobberry."

In full pout, Draiya's eyes followed her shuffling feet as she walked in lockstep.

"What's in it forr whoeverr gave away the saberrs? Wouldn't it be simplerr forr them to keep the weapons, orr betterr yet sell them?"

[Morgan Evanar]

Morgan talked as they picked their way across the field. Knee high grass swayed in a gentle, warm breeze.

"I suspect that it's an effort to discredit us." Morgan said. Draiya's nose scrunched up, as if she found the concept both distasteful and far-fetched.

"There used to be tens of thousands of Jedi over thousands of years, so there are likely hundreds of thousands of lightsabers. Mathematically speaking it's both possible and likely that the Empire already has plenty of lightsabers for their Knights. A dozen sabers to make us look bad is a small price to pay in a propaganda war."

[Serena Laran]

Serena was walking to the Council building from the hospital when she caught sight of a tall man and a much shorter girl walking in the same direction. She smiled and waved, their paths converging at the steps to the Council chambers. "Morgan!" She gave him a hug, and stepped back, happy to see her former and current padawans back from their off world trip. "How was the mission? Draiya behaved herself, I trust."

[Draiya Naaianeya]

Draiya bowed in greeting to her Master, an even disposition smoothing over her troubled thoughts.

"I accorrded myself as you would expect me to, Masterr."

The Syragori considered the rest of Serena's question, and the old concerned look appeared on her face.

"I'm afrraid, howeverr, we'rre left with morre questions frrom the mission than answerrs."

[Morgan Evanar]

Morgan gave a soft smile.

"Draiya was quite helpful during the mission." He added.

"We do have more questions than answers." Morgan went into detail about the fence, the typical drugs and guns picked up on Sriluur, but the suspicion of outside involvement due to the description of the Clone Wars era crate.

"...and we have all of the sabers. I was hoping one of the more veteran Jedi could shed light on their manufacture beyond the physical. They're just as we found them, except, well, in a bag."

[Serena Laran]

"I see. Well," she gestured up the stairs, "let's go
inside and we can take a look at them."

Once inside, she led them into the conference room, off of the main chamber. "On the table should be fine," Serena said, taking one of the seats.

[Draiya Naaianeya]

Draiya took her seat as Morgan prepared to lay out the impressive array of old lightsabers. The padawan watched as each was arrayed, with styles ranging from the simple to the ornate. None were identical, and each seemed to be a reflection of their original owners and creators, whoever they may be. Something struck her as the sabers were arranged. Something somber.

These once belonged to Jedi, and now they are dead.

A disturbing ghost of the past to behold.

[Morgan Evanar]

Morgan watched Serena approach the weapons thoughtfully. They were all pointed away from the trio of Jedi, with the proper respect a potentially deadly weapon should have. The Jedi Master closed her eyes and focused. Serena was one of the few people Morgan could pull emotional feedback from when he opened himself to it.

Serena was troubled by what she felt. He frowned.

[Serena Laran]

She passed her hand over the hilts of the sabers, not touching them, but the weapons each had their own faint presence. A remnant of the Jedi who had constructed them with care and wielded them in battle for the Light. And each lightsaber was stained with the deaths of those Jedi knights. She shuddered internally, closing her eyes lightly, and then withdrew her hand. "These are true weapons of the Jedi - made and used by members of the Order. They are not ancient. Most likely these are from veterans of the Clone Wars."

Left unspoken was the fact that almost all Clone War veterans from the Jedi Order had been murdered by the clones they had fought and bled alongside of. Serena straightened her shoulders. "Perhaps these came from a cache that the Empire was holding on to."

[Draiya Naaianeya]

Draiya could sense nothing of the sort from the lightsabers that her master detected. However, she did note the change in Serena's feelings immediately when her master passed her hands over the hilts. She knew.

"Then eitherr these weapons werre in turrn stolen from the Empirre..."

There was an unsaid or, and Draiya's eyes turned to Morgan.

[Morgan Evanar]

"...or the Empire put them there, via proxy." Morgan stated the other, likely option. Morgan took in a sharp breath and exhaled.

"None of these are newer than the Clone Wars?" Morgan asked Serena. He wanted to be sure.

"No." Serena shook her head.

This removed the avenue of component tracing. If these were of modern manufacture Morgan would have been able to disassemble and track down the parts of origin. The only upside was that they had retrieved a cache of Jedi sabers and removed them from the hands of a swoop gang. They had done a small good in the face of a much larger conspiracy.

"Master Laran," He began his request formally. "I'd like to investigate this matter further, but I feel that Padawan Naaianeya needs to tend to her studies." This investigation would need the participation of a more worldly Jedi aside from himself.

[Serena Laran]

Serena looked at the girl, and nodded. "I agree. We will talk together about your time on the mission later tonight, Draiya. After dinner?" She smiled, and turned to Morgan. "The origin of the lightsabers does need to be discovered. If you are willing to continue to investigate, I will see that you get what support you need from the Order." She picked up one of the lightsabers, a slim ivory colored tube with a plain gold activation plate, and turned it over reverently in her hand.